The son of the late Muammar Al-Qadhafi (shown), Hannibal, was ordered released from prison in Lebanon on Friday after 10 years, but bail was set at $11 million — an amount his lawyers say he cannot afford. File Photo by Justin Lane/EPA
A Lebanese judge on Friday ordered the release of Hannibal Qadhafi, son of late Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi, on a $11 million bail after he has been imprisoned in Lebanon for a decade without being charged.
Judge Zaher Hamadeh questioned Qadhafi for the first time since his last interrogation in 2017 and decided to release him on $11 million bail. He also prohibited him from traveling for two months.
Qadhafi, who had been living in Syria with his family since fleeing Libya in 2011 amid an uprising against his father, was kidnapped by armed men near the Lebanese border in December 2015, reportedly lured there under the pretense of a newspaper interview.
The armed men smuggled him into Lebanon, where they tortured him for information about the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr, a prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric and political leader who mysteriously vanished with two companions in August 1978 during an official visit to Libya.
The kidnappers also demanded a ransom, according to Human Rights Watch.
Later in December, Lebanese security authorities arrested Qadhafi after rescuing him from his captors, while Judge Hamadeh issued an arrest warrant for him.
In 2016, the judge formally charged Qadhafi, accusing him of withholding information about Sadr’s disappearance.
Qadhafi has repeatedly maintained that he was only 3 years old when the cleric and his two companions — journalist Abbas Badreddine and Sheikh Mohammad Yaacoub — disappeared. He has consistently denied any knowledge of the incident.
His Lebanese lawyer, Nassib Chedid, welcomed Friday’s decision to release him, saying it was “high time” for such a move after he had spent 10 years in detention “without a reason” and “without being tried.”
Chedid, however, questioned the decision to impose such a high bail and to prohibit Qadhafi from traveling.
“This, in Lebanon, is something very dangerous, because if he leaves the prison, we don’t know who could attack him,” the lawyer told UPI, referring to the travel ban. “This is all illogical. … It is not the end of the story.”
Qadhafi’s lawyers said he is unable to pay the bail, and they plan to challenge the travel ban.
“They should instead pay him $10 million for keeping him in prison for 10 years,” Chedid said, explaining that Lebanese law provides for a maximum of three years in prison for concealing information.
Qadhafi is to remain in prison until the bail is paid, according to his lawyer, who said it was “as if the judge was forced into the decision” to release him.
